Client Context
Our client is a global boutique life sciences consulting firm specialising in innovation across precision medicine, rare diseases, and patient support programmes. The firm supports pharma, biotech, medical device, and diagnostics clients across strategy development, new product development, global market entry, and due diligence.
As part of its growth strategy, the business wanted to hire three Associate Consultants on a full-time basis. Candidates needed strong scientific credentials, with backgrounds in Biomedical Sciences or Biomedical Engineering, and a preference for PhD-level academics.
With a team of approximately 30 people and no internal people or recruitment function, the client required end-to-end support to deliver a high-quality early career hiring process.
The Challenge
- No internal recruitment or graduate hiring infrastructure
- Highly specific academic and scientific requirements
- Need to assess not just capability, but motivation for life sciences consulting
- Requirement for a professional, brand-aligned candidate experience
This required a structured campus-to-career recruitment model, not ad hoc hiring.
Our Approach
KRS was engaged to act as an extension of the client’s internal team, operating as their in-house recruitment function and owning the full candidate journey.
Our approach combined proactive sourcing, rigorous assessment, and candidate engagement:
We represented the client’s brand externally, managed inbound applications, and ran all outbound sourcing activity, building targeted talent pools aligned to the firm’s scientific and consulting requirements. The process involved:
Targeted Talent Identification
- 210 outbound messages sent to candidates matching academic and demographic criteria
- 79 candidates formed the initial qualified talent pool with interest in life sciences consulting
Rigorous Screening and Assessment
- CV and cover letter screening resulted in a 57% progression rate
- Candidates were assessed on motivation, consulting awareness, role fit, and logistics
- A KRS-designed market sizing case assessment was used to evaluate consulting capability
Key reasons for candidate withdrawal included salary expectations, competing offers, logistics, and lack of clear motivation for a consulting career.
Client-Ready Shortlisting
Candidates submitted to the client received a full profile including:
- Candidate summary
- Performance in the KRS case assessment
- CV and cover letter
Outcome
The structured campus-to-career process delivered strong conversion rates throughout the funnel:
- 77% of assessed candidates were submitted to the client
- 75% progressed to final-round interviews
- 66%of final-round candidates received offers
- 100% offer acceptance rate, with KRS managing negotiation and contract signing
All successful hires met the firm’s academic criteria, with candidates holding Master’s and PhD-level qualifications.
Impact
The client successfully hired three Associate Consultants with strong scientific backgrounds and clear motivation for a career in life sciences consulting. By outsourcing early-career recruitment to KRS, the firm was able to scale capacity quickly, protect leadership time, and establish a repeatable campus-to-career hiring model to support future growth.
